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Vine: Six Steps to Using Six-Second Videos in Business Marketing

Video and marketing pros, take note. While Vine isn’t the first video app to hit the market, its simple design and integration with Twitter has been creating a lot of buzz in the business and marketing world. Many B2B and B2C companies have yet to decide if the app is valuable; however, Vine might be the perfect tool to marry entertaining and creative content into your marketing strategy.

As always, with any new social media app or tool, there are important lessons to learn before using the tool in your outreach to your audiences. With six steps, marketers can determine the best ways to integrate videos into their strategy.

1.
Is Vine Right for Me?
Decide whether entering the Vine universe is a good fit. Vine is great for telling short stories with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Brainstorm to see if your company has a visual story to share before answering this question with a definite “yes.”

2.
Have a Purpose
Even though apps like Vine can be exciting, new tools for marketing, it is important not to rush into using them without a clearly defined purpose. A company must know why they should present content via videos and how it will benefit both the business and its customers.

3.
Have a Plan
If Twitter is a micro-blogging platform, Vine is a micro-storytelling app. You will need a micro-plan (like this video planning template). Use a standard brainstorming model, for example: “People who watch our Vine videos will do this because of that.” Your strategy should be based on how you want your audience to react, what you want your audience to do and why.

4.
Be Creative
Find your role in the video marketing space, and do something unique and memorable to keep others watching and sharing your videos. For example, Brandin6 created an addicting, interactive Vine as a fun way to share its brand. Take advantage of the functionality and storytelling capabilities that a social video app like Vine can offer. It’s no secret that creative content is more compelling, so keep creativity a priority in the process.

#loop tap the screen with rock, paper, or scissors; see if you can beat your phone. or play with your friend... vine.co/v/b1XEMIe2Q1T

5.
Keep Content Fresh
If your content looks and feels like something that could have been an Instagram photo, it probably should have been just that. Your audience will skim right over boring content, so avoid sharing your meals in a video-format and stick to the good stuff. With Vine, companies can do more than share a picture. Take the opportunity to show how products work and look, and give your consumer audience a better feel for your product than a single picture can do.

6.
Don’t Run Out of Time
Like Twitter’s 140 characters, six seconds might feel like you have to cut it short. Figure out how you can tell your best possible story in that short amount of time. Visually share and explain---there is a wide variety of things you can do with this app, so to take the time to explore and create your videos.

Companies can make use of Vine to show how they work, share company culture, advertise products or services, and give tutorials about its area of expertise. For example, retail companies can use Vine videos to show new looks for their upcoming clothing lines as well as to offer step-by-step instructions for wearing a shirt three ways. Taco Bell recently used a Vine video to create awareness for its upcoming new product.

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Comments

by Michael Neuendorff Fri Mar 15, 2013via blog

I may go down as a fool, but I see little value in Vine. I think they are too short to be anything but a flavor of the month (and yet another tactic for digital ad agencies and social gurus to sell their clients) and the endless looping is actually annoying rather than helpful. With that said I appreciate the value of your points for those who want to take a serious stab at Vines.

by Rocky Walls Fri Mar 15, 2013via blog

Thanks for the comment Michael! I don't think you'll go down as a fool ;) I do think that, like anything else, useless, "flavor of the month" Vine videos will run rampant for as long as the app is available. But, I also think that there have been and will continue to be some clever uses. It's not the tool that brings the value - it's all in how it's used.

by Lisa Okoli Sat Mar 16, 2013via blog

At first, I found the continuous loop annoying. But on second thought, it would work well with twitter. Twitter moves so quickly that I would only glance at video before deciding to click the link or move on to the next tweet. The video does help bring the text to life, which would attract attention, and I suppose would increase the likelihood of a click-through.

by Rocky Walls Tue Mar 19, 2013via blog

Lisa, I totally agree. One of my first observations upon seeing the Vine urls in my Twitter feed was that I seemed more eager to click on the link than I would a YouTube link. I think, mostly, this was due to the fact that I knew for sure I was only going to be investing six seconds. With a YouTube video you never know what you're going to get. Lower barrier to entry for sure.

Thanks for the comment!

by The Mobile Billboard Company Sun Mar 24, 2013via blog

Its hard to know if these 7 second videos will catch on but i suppose marketeers and promoters need to be innovative to make them work. I noticed the new film olympus has fallen has been using vine to tweet moviegoers reviews of the film so maybe its starting to catch on.

by Rocky Walls Mon Mar 25, 2013via blog

I hadn't seen those movie review Vines yet. Thanks for sharing!

by 6:16 AM Tue May 7, 2013via blog

Hi, I log on to your new stuff regularly. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep up the good work!

by Rocky Fri Aug 16, 2013via blog

Thank you so much. Let me know what your favorite stuff is and we'll push for more of it!

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